Red String
by CrazyMetalhead
Summary: 'An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break.' Phan oneshot.


Red String

Since he was young, Dan could see the thin red string wrapped around his pinky finger. It was an incredibly long piece of string and, as he discovered after asking his mom about it, the string was invisible to everyone but him. He often wondered why it was there. He could twirl it around his finger, wrap it around his bedpost, and randomly tug on it, but he could never undo the knot that kept it tied to his finger. When he was about five, he went on an adventure to try and find the other end of the string. His parents found him a few hours later sitting in front of a pub in the town next to theirs, glaring down at his hand. He never did find the end of the string. As he got older, he began to stop worrying so much about the string. It became part of his everyday life. When he was bored, he'd play with the string. He'd stretch it across a room to try to get people to trip over it. They never did, and neither did he. As time went on, he also realized he could see red strings tied to other people's fingers. Most of their strings stretched far out away from them. Every now and then thought, Dan would see two people holding hands or kissing, their string bunched up in a pile on the ground below them. Sometimes, a string would be connecting two people but one would be holding hands with someone else. That frustrated Dan. After seeing how happy the people holding hands with the people their strings were connected to, Dan wanted everyone to be able to be with the person their string connected to.

It didn't take very long for Dan to figure out what the strings were there for. It was rather obvious that everyone with their strings tied to each other were in love, or would be one day. That only made Dan more curious to see where his string lead to. Although when he made this discovery, he was only eight when he made this discovery and didn't care at all about finding his soul mate, he couldn't help but wonder who it was going to be. Every time his parents took him somewhere new, he made a point to try and follow the string. Most of the time, his parents didn't question it, simply telling him to not go too far. However, after his fifth request to use the bathroom in ten minutes, his parents would begin to question his motives. After that, Dan would stop going off on his little adventures but still look around for anyone whose string was connected to his.

He hadn't had any luck, although he thought he'd gotten close on his ninth birthday when the new girl came to his party. As it turned out, her string was actually connected to the kid hovering behind him or next to him for most of the party. They were married seventeen years later and barley remembered Dan's birthday party. Dan hadn't had the same luck as the new girl and Kyle. He'd had a few girlfriends over the years but all of their strings lead to someone else. Dan had even set them up a few of his ex's with their soul mates, which his ex would then thank him for. It honestly didn't bother Dan that much, although he was starting to get fed up. In his 22 years, he had yet to meet his soul mate and there were people out there who had met their true love at five years old. When he was alone, Dan would glare at the string, twirling it around his finger. Sometimes Dan wished he couldn't see the string and just go around like any other person, clueless as to whom his soul mate is.

There were also times he was glad he could see the string. Had he not been able to see his string, he probably would've thought at least two of his ex's were 'the one.' He'd always feel bad when he started dating someone, knowing that even if he grew to genuinely have feelings for them, they were meant for someone else. He wouldn't lie, being able to see his string was more of a curse than a blessing. By his 23rd birthday, he had given up on ever finding his soul mate, expecting them to be somewhere in a country he'd never be able to visit. A few weeks after he'd decided to give up on finding his soul mate, Dan went into town, not even bothering to try and follow his string.

….

Phil knew what a red string of fate was well before he discovered he could see them. He had always had a fascination with Asian lore and would have his mother read him stories and legends over and over again. Although he thought it was a cool story, Phil never paid much attention to it, preferring to focus on the stories with less romance in them. A few days before his fifth birthday, he woke up to find a red string tied around his pinky leading out of the room. He leapt out of bed and ran into his parent's room, happily shouting about the string, showing his parents his hand. His dad groaned and rolled over while his mom ruffled his hair, telling him she was proud of him but that it was four in the morning and they needed their sleep. It didn't take very long for Phil to realize his parents couldn't see the string and he didn't want to risk waking his brother up so early in the morning, even if there was a chance he'd be able to see it as well. So Phil went back to his room and climbed into bed, slowly drifting back to sleep.

That night he had a dream he would dream nearly every night for the next twenty two years. The dream started with Phil looking down at his hands, which were much larger than his hands were at five. He'd look up from his hand and glance in a mirror. The man in the mirror looked a little like Phil, although his hair was black and he had a bang swept to one side. As Phil began to turn to face the mirror, there was a sudden tug at his finger, pulling him off balance. He managed to catch himself before he fell and looked up. The red string tied to his finger was trying to pull him him into the white fog ahead of him, tugging him towards an unknown destination. He took a hesitant step forward and the string suddenly stopped tugging at his hand, making Phil freeze. After a few seconds, the string began to pull at him again and Phil began to walk again. He walked through the fog, unable to see anything except for the string. He followed the string, hoping he wouldn't lose it. After what seemed like days of walking through the endless sea of fog, Phil could suddenly see clearly. He turned to look behind him and saw the fog slowly receding in the distance as he walked. When he turned back around, he saw that the string was pulled taught and was starting to shrink. The string was forcing him to walk faster, pulling at his finger urgently. After walking for a minute, Phil saw a figure standing fifty feet from him with their back turned to Phil. Tied to the person's pinky finger was the other end of the string. Phil began to walk faster, almost running to the person. He opened his mouth to call out for the stranger when he woke up, his mother shaking his shoulder gently, telling him it was time for him to go to school.

The next few years were rather difficult. Phil learned very quickly that telling someone that their soul mate was their best friend despite the fact that they both were apparently quite straight either resulted in an uncomfortable silence or a black eye. So he started to keep his ability to see people's strings to himself. Unfortunately, this made him start to push people away. When he was old enough to care about relationships, he'd force himself to not have any crushes, knowing he'd just have his heart broken. That was how most of his school career went. He had a few close friends but refused to let himself have a girlfriend, boyfriend, or whatever it was he wanted. That didn't mean he didn't want a relationship though. He'd almost asked out one of the girls in his math class in his first year of high school only to find out that her string was connected to one of the kids in the back of the class crew. If he was to be completely honest though, Phil was going to ask her out just so he could get his mom off of his back. His mom was constantly asking why Phil hadn't dated anyone yet and was genuinely concerned that something was affecting his ability to have romantic feelings for anyone. In his last year of high school, he got a girl to go to prom with him, mostly so his mom would stop fussing over him. They dated for a couple of months until she dumped him for the star basketball player of the school. Phil graduated a few months later and played matchmaker all through college, never actually dating anyone. Phil wasn't that worried about it though. He was more concerned about his dreams. More specifically, the dream with the string. He'd have it every other night and as the years had gone on, he'd gotten closer to the figure with their back to him. By the time Phil turned 26, he could hear himself shouting the person's name although he could never remember it when he woke up the next morning. By 27, the figure had started to turn to face him before Phil woke up. Phil wanted desperately for the figure to just turn around so Phil could see who he'd been dreaming of since he was five. A few months after his 27th birthday, Phil's dreams were the longest they'd ever been and he would wake up with a faint picture of the figure in his mind. The person looked fairly tall and was always wearing a black t-shirt and black jeans. They had short brown hair that looked soft to touch and, at least from what he could tell, they were fairly tan. The dream had practically taken over Phil, the image of the back of the person stuck in his mind all day. One day Phil decided he was going into town in an attempt to clear his head.

So, the 27 year old Phil went into town, hoping to get the image of the brown haired person out of his head.

….

A few hours after he'd left his home found Dan wandering aimlessly from shop to shop, occasionally looking into a window or stopping his aimless wandering to go into a store, decide he didn't want to buy anything, and walk out again. The whole time, he'd never glanced down at his finger once. Even if his soul mate was here, Dan doubted he'd just run into them. With his luck, Dan would probably be leaving as they got there. But then, what if he did find them? As impossible as it seemed, that thought kept popping up in Dan's head. Dan ignored it, shaking his head in an attempt to force the thought out of his mind. Dan stared down at his feet, his hands in his pockets, when suddenly he hit something, or, more specifically, someone, sending the other person crashing to the ground.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry. I was spacing out and didn't realize how fast I was moving and…are you okay?" Dan stuttered out, holding out a hand to the man.

"It's fine, I'm okay." The man said, taking Dan's hand. Dan pulled him up, expecting him to let go of his hand. The man didn't. Dan raised an eyebrow and moved his eyes from the ground to the man's face. He had black hair swept to one side and bright blue eyes fixed in shock on their hands. Dan looked down and his eyes widened, although whether it was in shock or joy, he didn't know. On the man's hand was a red string tied to his pinky that connected to Dan's. The man looked up from their hands to meet Dan's eyes, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

"Can you see it too?" He asked, hope filling his eyes as he stared at Dan.

"Yeah," Dan awkwardly answered, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

"So I guess that means we're…." the man trailed off, looking back down at their hands which were still together. His blush got darker as he pulled his hand away and Dan could feel his cheeks heating up as well. The man awkwardly cleared his throat and looked back up at Dan.

"So, if we're supposed to be soul mates, I guess we should know each other's names." Dan said, earning a small chuckle from the man.

"I'm Phil." The man grinned at Dan.

"Dan." He replied, smiling back at Phil.

"Well, Dan, would you care to join me for a cup of coffee?" Phil asked, gesturing to the Starbucks a few stores down.

"Why not." Dan walked so he was standing next to Phil and the two began to make their way to the Starbucks.

….

Phil walked into to his apartment, a skip in his step. His day with Dan was a tad awkward at first, seeing as they knew absolutely nothing about each other. It wasn't until they decided to go into a video game store and fangirl over the same games that they really started to talk. As it would turn out, they actually had a lot in common. They were both a tad awkward, massive nerds, and could name almost every Muse album in order of their release dates. As the day grew on, conversation came more easily. It felt natural talking to Dan and Phil was pretty sure Dan felt the same. By the end of the day, people probably would've thought they'd known each other their whole lives. Their personalities matched up perfectly and conversation just seemed so natural. They complained about not having enough money for an awesome game or a cool shirt, they argued over which Pokemon was the best, they complained about school and work, and they fangirled over movies, games, and shows. Night had fallen a few hours after they ran into each other but they hardly noticed. By the time Phil walked Dan back to his car, it was almost eleven thirty. They'd exchanged numbers and shared an awkward hug before Dan got in his car and began to drive away.

Phil dropped his keys off on the counter and walked into his bedroom, pulling out his phone to see the texts he had gotten on the road.

2 New Messages:

'Hey, thanks for today. It was awesome. Same place tomorrow? ;)

~Dan'

'Shit, I mean : ) ….whatever.

~Dan'

Phil smiled down at the screen and began to type a response as he fell onto his bed.

Compose message:

'It wasn't really planned but you're welcome. Is noon good for tomorrow? :3

~Phil'

New Message:

'Sounds good. See you tomorrow 3

~Dan'

Compose Message:

'Awesome :3 Goodnight 3

~Phil'

Phil put his phone down on his bedside table, laid down on his back, picked up a pillow and proceded to squeal into said pillow for a minute straight. He knew he was acting like a lovestruck teenager but, in a way, he felt like one. After all these years of waiting, he'd finally met his soul mate, although Dan wasn't exactly what he was expecting. In reality, he'd always imagined a beautiful woman with an extensive knowledge of movies at the other end of his string. Dan was one of the last people he'd expect to be at the end of his string. Phil was far from upset about it. Sure Dan wasn't what he'd expected but after only a day with him, Phil knew that Dan was better than anyone else the string could've lead him too. It normally took Phil a long time to be comfortable around someone new but with Dan, he felt like he could just be himself. Even if he hadn't been able to see the string, he knew that he and Dan would've clicked just as quickly.

Phil put the pillow back behind his head and picked up his phone.

5 New Messages:

'Goodnight love 3

~Dan'

'Wait, is it too soon to call you love?

~Dan'

'I mean, there is the red string thing but we've only known each other for a day….

~Dan'

'Know what, fuck it.

~Dan'

'I'm calling you love. Tomorrow I'm gonna call you love and I'm gonna call you love in this.

So…

Good night love 3

~Dan'

Phil laughed, shaking his head. Dan was beautifully awkward, which was just one of the many things that made Phil like Dan more. Dan was awkward but he was braver than Phil, something he'd noticed in just one day. Dan would be the one to talk to the cashiers at the few stores they actually bought anything from. Phil would just stand and listen, not wanting to butt in on their conversation. Then he and Dan would leave the store and suddenly Phil could talk again.

Compose Message:

'If you're giving me a nickname, I'd say Lion is better than Love.

~Phil'

Not even then seconds after Phil had sent the message, his screen lit up with a reply.

New Message:

'Well then goodnight, Lion 3

~Dan'

Compose Message:

'Sweet dreams, Dan :3 3

~Phil'

That night, Phil had the same dream he'd been having for the past 22 years, but this time it was different. This time, he didn't hesitate to walk into the fog. The string didn't have to tug him forward because he was already running. And as soon as he broke the fog and saw the figure at the other end of his string, he shouted his name.

"Dan!"

Dan turned and smiled at Phil, a few stray strands of brown hair falling over his eye. Phil sprinted towards Dan and crashed into him, wrapping his arms around Dan's waist. The hug sent them both crashing to the ground, Phil landing on top of Dan with his arms still around him. After a few seconds, Dan began to laugh. Phil quickly joined him, burying his face in Dan's neck as he laughed. Once their laughter subsided, Dan wrapped his arms around Phil. Phil lifted his face from Dan's neck and looked down at Dan.

"I was waiting for you." Dan smiled up at Phil, meeting his eyes.

"I was waiting for you too." Phil moved his hands from under Dan and put one on next to his head, using the other to lightly stroke Dan's cheek. Dan moved a hand from Phil's waist, moving it to his hair, running his fingers through it. After a few seconds, Phil began to move his face closer to Dan's, his heart fluttering in his chest. Finally, after what seemed like forever, their lips met. The kiss lasted barely five seconds before Phil pulled away. Dan was grinning up at him and Phil couldn't help but grin back.

"Just so you know, that's going to bet the first thing I do when I see you tomorrow." Dan said, running his hand through Phil's hair. Phil chuckled, resting his forehead against Dan's.

"I'd expect nothing less."

With that, Phil pressed his lips to Dan's again.

**…****..**

* * *

**AN: **So this idea was floating around in my head for a few days and I finally got it down.

FIRST PHANFIC! *explosion noises*

But yeah. I hope you guys like this! Please leave a review if you did. If you want to criticize it, at least make it constructive.

Also, there are supposed to be hearts in a few of the texts. If they don't show up, blame the site.

DISCLAIMER: I am a 14 year old girl with no actual life experience so….yeah.

Oh, and wish my luck for my first ever job interview! ^o^ I'm applying to be a lifeguard at my neighborhood pool so….yeah.

Have a lovely day 3


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